The African Development Bank Resident Representative in Ghana is encouraging government to introduce policies that can translate the country’s growth to equitable distribution of wealth.
[contextly_sidebar id=”gAcg1Psh7AJ40Dlb63pyYstTYjXoG5rq”]According to Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, income inequality in Ghana and across Africa remains high, despite Ghana’s recent gains in growth performance and poverty reduction.
Ghana was expected to halve extreme poverty as part of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by close of the year.
According to the Ministry of Finance poverty has declined from 39.5 percent from1998/99 to 28.5 percent in 2005/06.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade said economic opportunities and quality education are key to achieving government’s target.
“It may have to do with the type of growth that we have seen over the past decade, the fact that it is a growth that has not translated into any kind of significant transformation. for us the kind of transformation that creates sustainable jobs”, she stressed.
She spoke at the maiden edition of the New Economic Thinking Lecture (NET lecture) under the theme “New Economic Thinking for bridging the rising income inequality gap in Africa”.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade stated that, “The government and policy makers have an important role to ensure that there is a better redistribution of the growth story”.
The NET lecture was organized by the Young Professional Economists Network (YPEN).
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By: Rabiu Alhassan/citifmonline.com/Ghana